Spartak players have today undergone the usual medical check-up at the Sports Medicine Clinic at the Luzhniki. Our specialists have also checked our new signings: the Brazilian defender Ayrton Lucas (who was helped around the place by Pedro Rocha), as well as Maksim Glushenkov and Nail Ymyarov - both midfielders earlier played for Chertanovo.

Dmitry Kombarov and Aleksandr Lomovitski were among the first players to complete the check-up (at 10 a.m.), while Aleksandr Tashaev and Sofiane Hanni were in the closing pack, which finished up at 2 p.m.

— We have been using this clinic for many years — said the head of our medical department Mikhail Vartapetov. — There are several reasons why we like it. The doctors here know our requirements and we know how to time-manage here so that our players see all the specialists as quickly as possible. Once again we had the chance to see the clinic operates at the highest level.

— Which specialists the players have to go through to be cleared for the training process?

— We check their cardiovascular system, do lab tests, echocardiography, ultrasound, plus the players go to the optician, neurologist, dentist and so on. This is necessary for the coaching staff to have all the data at hand, to understand which state the players are in, whether they have any health problems, whether they’ve picked up any niggles during the break.

— Are you happy with today’s results?

— Yes, I am. Everyone’s always interested in the competitive data of course. There were two clear-cut leaders at the treadmill today: Glushakov and Ayrton. Everyone else showed good results too though. This attests the players were serious about the work they’ve done during the break and are ready for the work ahead.

— Samuel Gigot, Andrey Eschenko and Salvatore Bocchetti also went through the check-up. How would you assess their recovery following the surgeries?

— Gigot is in very good condition and he is on course to recover on time. During the tour he’ll still work separately, but most of the work will be done on the pitch, with the ball.

Eschenko is ahead of schedule in his recovery. He works the leg well enough.

As for Bocchetti, it’s too early for him to start running yet, but he’s on schedule. He should start doing some more serious drills during the second pre-season tour, including running.

— How are Roman Zobnin and Fernando doing, having missed the last few games because of injuries?

— Zobnin should start training with the main group in Dubai a couple of days after we arrive. Fernando is still struggling with the aftermath of his rather nasty injury. He won’t be able to train fully for now, but he is making progress. He trained a lot on his own in Brazil.